Choir Notes

The Silver Lining
From Music and the Spoken Word
Delivered by: Lloyd d. Newell • Program 4209

An old proverb reminds us to look for the silver lining in every cloud. But are the cloudy periods of our lives really lined with silver? Can something good and hopeful really be found in a setback or disappointment? Sometimes it’s difficult to find those silver linings. It may not be until later, even many years later, that we see the good that came from a hardship or trial.

Who has not had a dream dashed or felt rejected or disheartened at times? “What happens to the dreamers, all those people whose lives haven’t turned out as they hoped and planned?” asked Rabbi Harold S. Kushner. “The question is not, Can I get through life without some failures and rejections? because you can’t, and the more you aspire to in your life, the more you yearn for, the more scars you will accumulate along the way. The real question is, How will you respond to those disappointments? Will you respond with bitterness, envy, and self-doubt, or with resilience and wisdom?”1

For example, a college student felt distressed when he wasn’t admitted to the graduate school he wanted, but in retrospect, he feels that he found more satisfaction in his second choice. Similarly, a young girl lost a school election but developed inner strength as she learned to pick herself up and try again. A middle-aged man laid off from his job enjoyed spending more time with his family while working to retool and shift careers. All these, in time, found the silver linings.

Looking for a silver lining means choosing how we will respond to the dark clouds that come into our lives. We can hold on to hope and faith; we can decide to move forward; we can change for the better as we look for silver linings.

1 Overcoming Life’s Disappointments (2006), 50.